Carnage on the Roads Sends Six to Hospital
Every year as the summer season advances, alcohol-related carnage on local roads keeps pace. This past week was no exception. There were four single-vehicle accidents that sent six people to the hospital; all four drivers were charged with driving while intoxicated, and several other D.W.I. arrests involved drivers whose blood-alcohol content was significantly higher than the legal limit.
Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning was particularly brutal, with two Jeeps crashing and overturning in separate incidents less than 12 hours apart.
On Cranberry Hole Road in Amagansett at about 4:50 p.m., Matthew A. Mosher’s 2011 Jeep Wrangler was speeding as it crossed the hump-backed bridge over the Long Island Rail Road tracks, Det. Sgt. Greg Schaefer said Tuesday. Mr. Mosher, 41, of North Bellmore, lost control and was thrown from the Jeep, which landed on its roof.
He sustained serious injuries. A helicopter was called, and landed in a town-owned field nearby, to transport the injured man to Stony Brook University Hospital’s trauma center. However, Mr. Mosher was taken by ambulance to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital.
East Hampton Town Police Capt. Chris Anderson explained that when a patient is combative, as was apparently the case with Mr. Mosher, a medevac team will not transport him, lest a violent incident occur in the air. Minutes before the accident, Mr. Mosher had been involved in a confrontation with employees at the nearby Amagansett Seafood Store, Captain Anderson said.
He was charged with unlicensed driving in addition to D.W.I., both misdemeanors, as well as misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and numerous moving violations. An investigation is “an ongoing process,” Captain Anderson said.
Mr. Mosher had been arrested last month by Suffolk County police and charged with aggravated unlicensed driving, as well as driving without a seatbelt. He will be arraigned on the new charges in East Hampton Town Justice Court at a future date.
That night, a 2004 Jeep Cherokee flipped over on Springs-Fireplace Road near Sycamore Drive in Springs. The driver was James Spencer Mans, 19, of Louderville, N.Y. Three other young men, all schoolmates of Mr. Mans’s, were in the Jeep with him. All four were taken to Southampton Hospital after the accident.
The quartet had been drinking at the Stephen Talkhouse in Amagansett, they told police. At a little after 3 a.m. they headed back to a house where they were staying. One passenger, Michael Mock, told detectives, “I had fallen asleep during the ride and got woken up by the accident.” He was seated in the back, behind the driver. “I don’t remember exactly what happened,” he said, “but once the car stopped, myself and James Budd helped James out of the driver’s seat.”
At the hospital, Mr. Mans was charged with misdemeanor drunken driving, along with speeding and several other violations. “My car has bad tires, and we lost control,” he told detectives.
He refused to consent to a blood test. Though none of his injuries were considered critical, he was unable to sign the refusal form. His arraignment is scheduled for July 2.
The third crash that ended with a trip to the hospital under arrest, happened in Sag Harbor. Police said Brant J. O’Neill was pulling his 2005 Toyota out of a parking lot on Bridge Street “when he drove straight into a stone wall.”
An officer saw “medications” in in the car, which Mr. O’Neill “stated he took a lot of.” Asked to get out of the car, he “fell straight to the ground, hitting his head.” He was additionally charged with driving under the influence of drugs before being taken to Southampton Hospital, where he was admitted. He will be arraigned in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court on July 7.
The fourth alcohol-related crash last week did not end with a trip to the hospital, but did leave a 2004 Volvo with severe front-end damage.
“The steering wheel went out of control, and I crashed,” Kori Rosi Fleischman, 21, of Scotch Plains, N.J., told police early on the morning of June 10 after her car went off Stephen Hand’s Path in East Hampton and hit two trees. Her blood-alcohol content was said to be .11 of 1 percent. She was released later that morning without bail.
Ryan Charles Glasson, 32, was driving a 1990 Jeep on Pudding Hill Lane, where he lives, early last Thursday morning, when East Hampton Village police pulled him over on a traffic stop. Mr. Glasson was convicted of drunken driving in California in 2006; because of that, he faces a charge of felony D.W.I. “I had a couple of drinks,” he reportedly told police. “I’m coming from Montauk.”
After finding that his license had been suspended or revoked multiple times, police also charged Mr. Glasson with three counts of aggravated unlicensed driving, including one at the felony level. His Jeep was impounded, as required under county law. He refused to take the breath test at Cedar Street headquarters, and was held for arraignment later that morning.
Justice Steven Tekulsky set bail at $1,000, which was posted.
Two people facing misdemeanor D.W.I. charges serve alcohol professionally.
Robert Knips of Brooklyn, 32, whose 2014 Dodge pickup had been stopped in Montauk, told Justice Tekulsky in court last Thursday that he is a bartender in Manhattan. After his arrest, police asked him where he was going. “From Sloppy Tuna to Liar’s,” he reportedly answered. His breath test was said to have registered .17, just missing the .18 reading that would have triggered a charge of aggravated D.W.I. He was released later that morning without bail.
Katherine E. Mahoney of Springs, 24, told police on June 10 after her early morning arrest that she was a bartender at Wolfie’s Tavern in Springs. Her reading was also .17, and she too was freed without bail.
Another Springs resident, Michael Jurado, 49, was pulled over early Friday in a 2009 Mercedes. Though he claimed to have had only one cocktail with dinner “about an hour ago,” his blood-alcohol content was reported to be .21, elevating the misdemeanor charge to the aggravated level. He was released without bail, as was Toby J. Logue of Montauk, 40, who had been stopped on Essex Street early on June 9. His reading was .13.
A Wappinger Falls, N.Y., man, Adam J. Trapani, 39, had a particularly bad Saturday in Montauk. He was in the hamlet on business, he told the court after his early-morning arrest, and was at 668 Gig Shack on Main Street when someone picked his pocket. An employee found his wallet, but without his cash. He then drove off in a 2014 Jeep, but ran a stop sign, police said, about 50 yards on.
At 2:01 a.m. Saturday, Mr. Trapani was placed under arrest on a charge of D.W.I. A reported reading of .18 triggered an aggravated-level charge.
Justice Lisa R. Rana asked Mr. Trapani how much bail he could manage to post. “I got my pocket picked last night. They took all my cash.”
She released him without bail but with a future date on her criminal calendar.